Angels [Part 1]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright.

As I think about life and I think about my life, and so many that I have loved and ministered to over the years, the question really that leaves me baffled is not why have there not been angels there in some instances, but the bigger question I have is how is it that we make it through such a hazardous life as long as we do? That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Higher Power as presented at Rinaldo Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout our entire program today, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. So as you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org.

Or call 877-544-4860, 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program. But right now, let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Alan Wright. Are you ready for some good news? Your life is protected and comforted and nourished in unseen ways by mighty angels that God dispatches on your behalf. We're going to talk about angels. We've been in a long series about the power of God, and it's only fitting to include in this an exploration of these magnificent creatures and their role in our lives. Because after all, they are so prevalent in the Christmas stories.

Let's look at some of the texts. Luke chapter 1 verse 11. There appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of the incense, and Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. And the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah.

Your prayer has been heard. Luke 1 26. The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph. And he came to her and said, greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. Luke 2 verse 8.

And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And then at verse 13. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he's pleased.

Matthew's account also features these majestic mighty warriors, messengers of God. Matthew 1 verse 20. As he, Joseph, considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. And later, after the Magi had departed in Matthew 2 13, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there till I tell you.

For here it is about to search for the child to destroy him. Angels. I've never seen one. I know some people who have. One time after a morning worship service, a reliable, mature Christian came to me after the service and said while I was preaching that she saw an enormous angel in the sanctuary.

I believed her. Huge creature, she said, like wings coming around me. You ever had a time in which you feel like there's no other explanation except for an angel? Story I've told a number of times, but I can't even find words for how terrifying the moment was for me even to tell the story inside a shutter at my folly.

And then I am so grateful to think of the goodness of God. When our son Bennett was little, maybe he had not yet turned one or was one, and we lived in Durham at the time. And one evening I went out into the cul-de-sac in front of our house where there was a basketball goal and sometimes I would shoot baskets there. And I took the basketball full size regulation basketball and went out and I had Bennett just to be outside, get some air.

And I thought some reason to be fun. I was just holding onto Bennett. He couldn't really walk or anything yet. So I'm just holding, he's in arms and I'm holding Bennett and I'm just taking the basketball and I'm shooting some baskets like this and talking to little Bennett and enjoying the evening air.

It was foolish. I came up and I was sort of underneath the basket and I shot with my right hand, shot the basket, and I hit the bottom of the rim real firm and it just ricocheted straight back. And my little baby's head was just watching me shoot, looking up to see the basketball. And the basketball came off of the rim really hard right at Bennett's head. And you know how your brain can in a moment have a thousand calculations and I knew we are going to the hospital, this could break my child's neck or worse. And it was just all so fast.

I mean there's no way to shield it, there's no way to do anything about it. But you know a baby who is just developing enough neck muscles to even hold his head up and a basketball comes full speed at him. And I'm just telling you what happened. The ball ricocheted hard back up, almost back to the rim again. And Bennett's head did not move. His head did not bounce back. It didn't touch me and his head didn't move and he just kept looking up and kept smiling. I am convinced a great angel of his shielded him, that physically the ball bounced back.

You may have stories like that. And I want to think about angels with you for these moments because to think of angels is to be comforted by their presence and knowing how much God is for you. And it is to build your faith and make you grateful. So let's think a little bit about angels and who they are and I can't be comprehensive but we can look at some scriptures together and be encouraged. Here's the definition that I have developed. Angels are exceedingly powerful, moral, spiritual creatures who worship and serve God as he wills for God's glory and the well-being of God's children.

I want to just walk through this definition. Exceedingly powerful. Almost every example in the scripture of someone confronting an angel and the people are terrified. You ever notice in the Christmas stories the first thing the angels say is don't be afraid because people are trembling. So our cute Christmas tree ornaments and our pretty winged cherubim that are so sweet is not really the picture in the Bible.

There's something much, much more glorious than that. They are called in Psalm 103, mighty ones. Bless the Lord you angels, you mighty ones who do his word. They do mighty warfare as we see in Revelation chapter 12 or 7, war arose in heaven. Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon.

So there's a cosmic battle and unseen warriors are doing battle on behalf of the people of God and the plans of God. There's a story in 2 Kings 19 of one angel that strikes down 185,000 enemy Assyrians. Verse 35, the night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000. Of course, you know the story of the resurrection in Matthew 28 too. Well, there was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone. So this massive stone and the angel just rolls it.

So angels are mighty. In his excellent book on the subject, Billy Graham tells the story of Pastor John Petten, a pioneer missionary in a remote island that early on before befriending any of the locals was surrounded one night by hostels who were intent on burning down their missionary center and then killing them. And the pastor and his wife just prayed all night through this terrifying situation.

And at daybreak, they saw the attackers had left and no harm had come to them. A year later, the chief of that tribe came to Christ under their ministry. And so the pastor was able to talk to him about that night and asked him what happened. And the chief said, we decided not to attack because of all the men that you had there standing guard. The pastor said we had no soldiers.

And the chief argued with him declaring that there were hundreds of strong armed soldiers standing around their missionary center. That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Did you love a better marriage? You don't need more good advice.

You need more good news. Marriages like people aren't changed by human effort or even by applying principles. Marriages are changed by the gospel of grace. In six video sessions, Pastor Alan and his wife and lead you and your spouse into a fresh encounter with the God of grace. You'll learn a simple grace-filled process that makes great communication easy. You'll discover the freedom of forgiveness and the power of celebration. You'll also learn how to pray for your spouse and how to bless one another with a faith-filled vision for the future.

To help you grow, when you order the video series, we'll also send you two copies of the accompanying study guide. Whether your marriage is going through some special challenges or your marriage is in a season of health, you'll find powerful transformational truth in good news for your marriage. Make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries today and fill your marriage with the grace of God. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

Now we are in our final days of offering this special product. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Today's teaching now continues.

Here once again is Alan Wright. Angels are mighty. And I put in the definition they are moral, meaning the sense that they have from the beginning, they had some sense of moral choice and some sinned and fell. Take Peter 2 verse 4. God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment. So there are those angels that are fallen by their own choice of rebellion.

That's what we call demons. But those that did not fall, those that did not rebel, they eternally love and worship God. And they are morally pure and unfallen and they're called elect and holy. First Timothy 5 verse 21.

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels, I charge you to keep these rules. Elect angels is an image to say that those angels that did not rebel against God are pictured in the scripture as not being capable of falling. They are elect, they are God's own, and they are going to be eternally pure and always will be. So they are mighty, they are moral, and they are spiritual.

Hebrews 1.14 is a good picture for us speaking of angels. Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who would inherit salvation? So they are spiritual. They are spirits. They may take on physical manifestation.

They variously in scripture appear in bright raiment, bright light, and they can appear as if human. But they, the angels, are not physical beings. They're spiritual beings.

And this is important. I put in the definition, they are creatures, meaning they are created. So they're not gods and they're not to be worshiped.

They are glorious and wonderful creatures. Psalm 1.48 verse two. Praise Him all His angels.

Praise Him. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created. Angels were created. Colossians 1.16, Paul says, by Him, all things were created in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.

All things were created through and for Him. Which means since they are creatures, they are limited. And it's important to remember that they're not omniscient creatures. They're not gods. They're not omnipotent. They're not omnipresent.

They are in specific locations at specific times. Like back to our story in Luke 1.26, the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth. So they're not everywhere. Gabriel is sent by God.

And so when he's in Nazareth, he's not anywhere else. So they're not creatures. They mustn't be worshiped.

This is the problem of all new age thought is like looking for an inner spirit guide. That's not what angels are at all, biblically. They're just beautiful, wonderful, marvelous, mighty, moral creatures. And though they are limited in where they can be, the good news is there are myriads and myriads of angels. In fact, it might be that every child is assigned an angel. Matthew 18, 10, Jesus said, see that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven, their angels always see the face of my father.

I tend to think God just, He's very kind towards the little children. And Jesus speaks here as one from the perspective of eternity, having seen that the angels had the privilege of looking directly on the face of God. And it may be that every single person, every single child has been given an angel.

But in any event, I think that there are billions and billions of angels. They worship and serve God as part of my definition, because that's what they do. They glorify God and they do whatever God wants them to do. The picture of Isaiah and his call in Isaiah 6 is beautiful. The year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up. The train of his robe filled the temple and above him stood the seraphim. And each had six wings, two he covered his face, two he covered his feet, and two he flew. And one called to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of his glory. So they are these glorious creatures who are seen in visions, encircling the throne of God, who are unable to do anything except call out his wonder. Same picture in Revelation that John sees in his vision on Patmos. Revelation 5, I looked and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is a lamb who was slain. Again, Hebrews 1 14, are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve? So angels are glorifying God and serving God. That's in short who angels are.

Much more could be said. They are magnificent, mighty. They are moral creatures. The elect angels are not fallen and never will fall.

So they don't, they're not redeemed because they never fell. And yet they are creatures made by God and not to be worshiped and not really to be sought or prayed to in any way. They're God's messengers. That's what angel means and his mighty warriors. As I just reflected over the Christmas stories again this year, thinking about these angels and read the stories afresh, I'm encouraged in several ways. As I read those stories afresh, I realize how taken I am by the commitment of God to providentially ensure the safety, direction, and wellbeing of his people and the glorious announcement that he's making of a new era. And this is comforting because it means, beloved, that you can be assured that God likewise is caring for you. Alan Wright, our good news message today.

It's titled Angels in the series Higher Power. I encourage you to stay with us. Pastor Alan is back here in the studio sharing his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. Would you love a better marriage? You don't need more good advice.

You need more good news. Marriages like people aren't changed by human effort or even by applying principles. Those are changed by the gospel of grace. In six video sessions, Pastor Alan and his wife Anne lead you and your spouse into a fresh encounter with the God of grace. You'll learn a simple grace-filled process that makes great communication easy. You'll discover the freedom of forgiveness and the power of celebration. You'll also learn how to pray for your spouse and how to bless one another with a faith-filled vision for the future.

To help you grow, when you order the video series, we'll also send you two copies of the accompanying study guide. Whether your marriage is going through some special challenges or your marriage is in a season of health, you'll find powerful, transformational truth in good news for your marriage. Make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries today and fill your marriage with the grace of God. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer.

Now we are in our final days of offering this special product. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Unlock the power of blessing your life. Discover God's grace-filled vision for your life by signing up for Alan Wright's free daily blessing. If you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement, get Alan Wright's daily blessing.

It's free and just a click away at PastorAlan.org. Back now with Pastor Alan and our parting good news thought for the day. Okay, you couldn't go through a series of higher power without talking about angels.

Right. There's a fascination with angels and I was thinking about them especially much during the Christmas season, past Christmas, and how there's a fascination with angels. They are certainly not the little cherubim on our Christmas trees.

They're not a cute little ornaments. These are the mighty warriors of God and the messengers and heralds of good news. And so when we learn about angels, what does it do for us? Builds our faith and increases our gratitude to God. So that's what I'm hoping to do today and tomorrow is let's learn about angels. Let's learn about who they are and let's have confidence that God, according to the promise of his word, has assigned us angels and that we can take comfort in that and we can also really look back over our lives and go, oh, wow, God, you've always been there. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at PastorAlan.org or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. If you only caught part of today's teaching, not only can you listen again online, but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free. Find out more about these and other resources at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.